Galesburg's Morning News

The 46th Annual Rootabaga Jazz Festival kicks off Tuesday at Knox College and runs through Saturday night at the Orpheum Theatre — and this year features something the festival has never done before: a full big band as the headlining act. Andy Crawford, Managing Director of the Music Performance Program at Knox College and longtime organizer of the festival, joined Galesburg's Morning News on Mond...

Galesburg City Manager Eric Hanson joined Galesburg's Morning News on Monday, May 4, to preview the evening's City Council agenda. The Council meets at 6 p.m. at Galesburg City Hall. Listen to the full interview below. Topics covered in this interview: Letter Carriers Food Drive Day proclamation — Saturday, May 9. Leave non-perishable food near your mailbox. Galesburg ranks second only to Chicago...

The Galesburg Area Vocational Center is wrapping up what Director Adam Seaney calls the strongest year in the center's history — record enrollment, a strong showing at the SkillsUSA State Championships, and Senior Signing Day coming up May 12. Seaney joined Galesburg's Morning News on Thursday, April 30. Listen to the full interview below. Topics covered in this interview: Record enrollment for th...

The Friends of the Galesburg Public Library are holding their annual three-day book sale this weekend at the Galesburg Public Library Community Room, 264 W. Main St. Friends president Jeff Douglas, sorting committee chair Bobby Dillard, and Wendel Hunigan — who manages the Little Free Libraries program through Rotary — joined Galesburg's Morning News on Thursday, April 30. Sale schedule: Friday, M...

The Galesburg Farmers Market opens its 2026 season this Saturday, May 2, at 362 E. Simmons St. in downtown Galesburg — running 8 a.m. to noon every Saturday through September. Market manager Kathy Walker joined Galesburg's Morning News on Wednesday, April 29, to preview the season. Listen to the full interview below. Topics covered in this interview: What to expect on opening day — 19 vendors and...

The Performing Arts Academy opens its annual spring musical this weekend — and director Tim Holmes says the cast of 48 is ready after eight weeks of intensive rehearsal. Holmes joined Galesburg's Morning News Tuesday with cast members Mallory Fineran, a senior at ROWVA High School playing Rose Alvarez, and Dean McNally, a freshman at Galesburg Junior-Senior High School playing Albert Peterson. [ca...

Knox County Area Partnership for Economic Development President Ken Springer returned to Galesburg's Morning News to recap the organization's second annual advocacy trip to Washington, D.C., and to discuss a new national communications series designed to put Galesburg on the radar of housing developers, companies, and site selectors across the country. Topics covered in this interview: Who made th...

If you farm in Knox County, own land, or just love your yard, Kara Downin has something for you — and most of it has a deadline this Friday. Downin is a Resource Conservationist with the Knox County Soil and Water Conservation District. She joined Galesburg's Morning News Monday with details on three May 1 deadlines, an upcoming event for women in agriculture, and news that a water quality project...

Trinette Olin is a former fifth-grade teacher, farm wife, mother, and grandmother who farms with her husband near Alexis, Illinois. Last fall, she published her first children's novel — and the story behind how it finally got finished is as good as the book itself. Olin joined Galesburg's Morning News to talk about The Bicentennial Year and the Forgotten Name — a novel told through letters between...

City of Galesburg Special Projects Coordinator Tom Simkins joined Galesburg's Morning News to talk about this Saturday's volunteer tree planting event, Galesburg's 26th consecutive Tree City USA designation, and the city's ambitious push to reach 1,000 trees planted under Project 350. Topics covered in this interview: Saturday's volunteer planting event — 8:30 a.m., Dale May Fire Training Center,...

Orpheum Theatre Executive Director Andrew Driscoll joined Galesburg's Morning News to discuss the final stretch of the 2025-26 season, a new Summer Comedy Series, and a transformative state grant that could redefine what the historic downtown venue is capable of booking. Topics covered in this interview: 512: The Selena Experience — April 23, 7:30 p.m. Walk-up tickets still available A Wicked Even...

Galesburg City Manager Eric Hanson joined Galesburg's Morning News Monday morning to preview tonight's second April meeting of the Galesburg City Council, set for 6 p.m. at Galesburg City Hall. Topics covered in this interview: Hannah Lyon's appointment to the Landmark Commission — what the commission does and why appointments tend to come in cycles Final reading on the ordinance to sell 13 city-o...

She learned to swim at Hawthorne Pool, competed at Lakeside, set records at Galesburg High School, and went on to Notre Dame. Then she spent 25 years coaching at some of the top programs in the country. Now Danielle Hulick Tansel is back in Galesburg — and she's running the pools she grew up in. Tansel was appointed Recreation Supervisor for the City of Galesburg Parks and Recreation Department, w...

They are the calm voice on the other end of the line when everything else is falling apart. And most of us never think about them until we need them. This week is National Telecommunicators Week, and two dispatchers from the Galesburg/Knox County 9-1-1 Center joined Galesburg's Morning News Friday morning — along with Galesburg Police Chief Kevin Legate — to talk about what the job actually looks...

A viral pancake brand and a Galesburg nonprofit are joining forces for a community fundraiser — and the partnership is already turning heads well beyond Knox County. Bridgeway Inc. and Judy's Family Brands are co-presenting the Judy's Pancakes 5K and Fun Run Family Day on Saturday, June 13, at Hawthorne Center in Galesburg. Proceeds benefit Bridgeway's Adventure Committee, which funds life-enrichi...

An eighth grader from Knoxville has a creative — and memorable — way to raise awareness for affordable housing in Knox County. Michael Knight, a student at Knoxville Jr. High School, developed a Pay It Forward project called "Give a Crap About Habitat" — a campaign that uses bathroom humor to draw attention to the fact that millions of Americans lack access to decent housing and basic sanitation....

This episode of Galesburg’s Morning News features Jill Bradford, Cheri Siebken, and Mary Ellen Milem from Prairie Players Civic Theatre previewing their new production Farce of Nature, opening April 17 at the intimate blackbox theater at 160 S. Seminary St. in Galersburg. The fast-paced ensemble comedy follows a struggling fishing lodge in Arkansas and delivers plenty of physical humor, rapid-fire...

Two of the Galesburg area's most prominent choral organizations are sharing a stage for the very first time — and the timing couldn't be more fitting. Nova Singers and the Galesburg Community Chorus join forces Saturday, April 25, for a performance of the Duruflé Requiem at First Lutheran Church, 364 E. Water St. in Galesburg. The concert marks the close of Nova Singers' 40th anniversary season an...

Pro Wrestling Epic comes to the Merchants Building in Abingdon this Saturday, April 18, in a fundraiser benefiting the Abingdon Community Festival's buildings and grounds budget. Michael Anderson, vice president of the Abingdon Community Festival, Doug Thomas, wrestling chairperson, and Amber Slagel, food and drink vendor chair, joined Galesburg's Morning News to talk about what's in store. Topics...

State Rep. Dan Swanson, autism advocate Nicholas McMahill, Monmouth College student Lexy Clay, and Deb Grey-Gibson, legislative assistant for Senator Mike Halpin, join Galesburg's Morning News to preview two free community events coming up later this month. The Autism Awareness Event is Thursday, April 23, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Galesburg Public Library, 264 W. Main St., Galesburg. The Veteran an...

The first-ever Downtown Galesburg Coffee Crawl is Saturday, April 25, from 8 to 11:30 a.m. — and the four women behind it joined Galesburg's Morning News Wednesday morning to explain what it is, how it works, and why three competing coffee shops decided to team up for it. Joining us: Jessica Ketchum, owner of Innkeeper's Fresh Roasted Coffee; Stephanie Sikorski of Core Communication & Consulting;...

Blake Benedict, owner and head brewer at Reserve Artisan Ales, and Lindsay Benedict, marketing director, join Galesburg's Morning News ahead of the 4th Annual G-ALES-Burg Beer Fest — this Saturday, April 11, at The Vault at Reserve Artisan Ales in downtown Galesburg. The Benedicts talk about how the event has grown from 235 attendees in year one to a projected 600-plus this year, the personal stor...

Knox County Health Department Public Health Administrator and CEO Michele Gabriel and Assistant Administrator Wil Hayes join Galesburg's Morning News for National Public Health Week, which runs through Saturday, April 12. Gabriel and Hayes discuss 34 years of public health progress in Knox County, Friday's free Drug Take Back event in partnership with OSF HealthCare, and what the health department...

Galesburg City Manager Eric Hanson joins WGIL's Morning News ahead of tonight's City Council meeting to preview a full agenda — including a vote on FlixBus intercity bus service, exterior repairs at City Hall, seal coating contracts, and a speed limit reduction on South Lake Storey Road. Hanson also reflects on a strong first quarter for the city and looks ahead to summer construction season, the...

Marcia Parrish is back on Galesburg's Morning News for Parkinson's Awareness Month. Marcia facilitates a local Parkinson's Support Group and a Caregiver's Support Group, volunteers with Rock Steady Boxing at the Monmouth YMCA, and organizes the Tom Parrish Memorial Golf Tournament for Parkinson's research — named after her late husband Tom, who had Parkinson's, as did his father. This year's Parki...